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I think this is, so far, the most emotional episode of the series. From the moment Shun revealed that he had turned into a karma demon, his death was inevitable. The death scene was rather simply done; he just accepted his fate, for the sake of Saki and everyone else's safety. His confession and the usage of music made it all the more tragic.

The one problem which had always hindered me from enjoying SSY was their jarring transitions from episode to episode; for example, Episode 5, which employed a very different art style from the previous episodes. Here, we have another dose of a strange art style. I found all of it very bizarre, and too stylistic for my taste.

However, after giving it thought, I think this episode's art style was partly one of the reasons why this episode hit all my emotional buttons. In my opinion, the house's surroundings was supposed to mirror Shun's situation: he's a karma demon, he's ruined, he knows he has no future, but there's still a bit of hope left in him. (Hence the aurora...?) It also gives the effect that Shun and Saki are both in something of a fantasy world, which creates a memorable background for their parting.

I kind of wish there was a little more development between Saki and Shun. After the single boat scene, they suddenly met the minoshiro library and then it's all Satoru during the queerrat war. Then Saki gets jealous at his and Satoru's relationship and the next minute he's gone.

Perhaps it's because of the medium and the loss of Saki's first person narrative, but I feel that there wasn't enough time to show that these two have had a long history together before the tragic end.

I kind of wish there was a little more development between Saki and Shun. After the single boat scene, they suddenly met the minoshiro library and then it's all Satoru during the queerrat war. Then Saki gets jealous at his and Satoru's relationship and the next minute he's gone.

Perhaps it's because of the medium and the loss of Saki's first person narrative, but I feel that there wasn't enough time to show that these two have had a long history together before the tragic end.

That's probably why I didn't realyl care too much that shun died, sure I liked him as a character and stuff but definately not on the same level as gureen lagaan. (forgot that guys' name again). I felt like they were trying too hard and basically saying "OK BE SAD NOW!"

and yeah, the animation was ...distracting, and I am usually the LAST person to grip eabout animation, but this ep it was actually bothering me.

I kind of wish there was a little more development between Saki and Shun. After the single boat scene, they suddenly met the minoshiro library and then it's all Satoru during the queerrat war. Then Saki gets jealous at his and Satoru's relationship and the next minute he's gone.

Perhaps it's because of the medium and the loss of Saki's first person narrative, but I feel that there wasn't enough time to show that these two have had a long history together before the tragic end.

They didn't though. Not as lovers. They were part of the same group growing up and obviously felt for each other but they never professed their love for one another openly and there wasn't much of a "history" between the two of them, not any more than between them and the other folks in their group.

Ugh... I am not sure how I feel about the art in this episode. It started out great. I totally loved it for the majority of the episode. But it just felt weird and misplaced at the very end. I think they overdid it in the final few minutes with the warping camera movement.

Not much really happened either. Perhaps because I was spoiled as to what would happen but the intensity was somehow lacking compared to what I expected. I think this particular moment is one I would feel for a lot more if I were to read the novel instead. I can't say I agree with the choice of those facial expressions on Saki. They reveal nothing while she must have been in great turmoil. Oh well.

Looking forward to the rest of the series now. I want to see how Saki moves on from this. She wishes to live, she says at the end of this episode, but does she really know what for and how? How will the rest of the group react to Shun's death and more importantly, how is this group that now knows too much going to survive in such a society? It's not like they can just change the whole order because it seems to me that the order has arisen out of necessity and not choice. Are they going to get assimilated into the adult world where you know what's up and ignore it or are they going to succumb to their own subconscious like Shun did? If the foreshadowing was any hint, Maria for one is going to cause lots of issues.

I don't think Shun's death is meant to be the emotional climax of the show btw. For one, it happens way too early and for another, it happens when we still don't know much as to what's actually going on. That said, it's a pivotal moment for sure.

I liked Shun too. Wish there had been some content from his perspective or at least with him in the focal point. As it stands, his turmoil is kind of far too distant for me to feel it intensely.

This episode was still excellent but it didn't make feel as strongly as I wanted it to make me. Meh.

This anime needs another head director... there is so much talent from the source, the background art, the music, some VAs... but as with ep.5-7, they are composed together by someone who is definitely up to the task. The more episodes I watch, the more he reminds me of the last anime he directed (Yumekui Merry)... whenever he had to present a mature or complicated scene he always screwed up

Frustration aside, I am so happy because:

1) The novel writer didn't had Saki rescued again, proving me wrong, further developing her character in a more interesting direction.

2) The anime writer didn't forget to explain the orbiting balls

Now with only 2/3rd of the cast alive, I just hope the series director does not mess up too much with storytelling again, since we should be moving to Maria/Mamoru and Saki/Satoru "main" plot.

Dunno man, Saki was more in love with an idealized Shun and ignored (like a lot of viewers) who he was. As for the other way around, Shun has shown a lot more affection and care for Satoru, then Saki.

After this episode this sounds like denial to me. And unnecessary too, since Shun is out of the piture anyway.

And yeah, maybe Saki didn't know Shun as she well as she would have liked, but that's because Shun always kept to himself for the most part, not Saki being unwilling to know him better or ignoring him. As for him showing more affection towards Satoru.... c'mon. Did he ever do something like that time on the boat with Saki when he was with Satoru? No, in fact he was pretty indifferent with him (and he didn't even mention Satoru once in this episode!).

Saki and Shun loved each other. That couldn't be more clear. Let's deal with it and move on, shall we?

Saki and Shun loved each other. That couldn't be more clear. Let's deal with it and move on, shall we?

This. There weren't that many cutscenes between them in comparison to other chars, but the subtle affections were obvious. For the most part, in terms of relationships between chars(in any show), I don't really place too much stock on what had been shown to me as much as what's emphasized by the characters themselves. Saki says she loves Shun, and vise-versa. That's why I really empathized with Saki here. I mean, they finally profess their love for one another, only for them to be parted forever (;_; )

After this episode this sounds like denial to me. And unnecessary too, since Shun is out of the piture anyway.

And yeah, maybe Saki didn't know Shun as she well as she would have liked, but that's because Shun always kept to himself for the most part, not Saki being unwilling to know him better or ignoring him. As for him showing more affection towards Satoru.... c'mon. Did he ever do something like that time on the boat with Saki when he was with Satoru? No, in fact he was pretty indifferent with him (and he didn't even mention Satoru once in this episode!).

Saki and Shun loved each other. That couldn't be more clear. Let's deal with it and move on, shall we?

The anime kind of moved really fast and glossed over his relationship with Satoru but even there, he was giving Satoru more attention than Saki, at least while they were still "playing lovers". I don't think Shun didn't love Saki, and that would be impossible to deny, not just from this episode but since pretty much ever, but I do think he loved Satoru as well. And why the hell would he mention Satoru in this episode anyway, unless Saki specifically mentioned Satoru first. Also, it is definitely true that Saki was in love with an "idealized" version of Shun. I agree with you that she had the intention to know him better, but she never acted on it. It wasn't just because Shun always kept to himself but also because she didn't really do anything to bring her love to bear fruit. Yes it wasn't really something she could have done given the circumstances but as undeniable as it is that she loved Shun, and vice-versa for that matter, it's also undeniable that she was in love with an idealized version of Shun without her really knowing much of his inner turmoil and that her love was thus more of a crush than love.

It's interesting that Shun alludes to Freud's Iceberg theory of the concious and the unconscious (Not subconscious). According to Shun, their cantus comes from their unconscious which does certainly make it dangerous. It's great that they're explaining more about where the cantus comes from even if it is a heavily subjective and unscientific model of the human psyche (though at least they gave Shun's state a sciencey sounding name: Hashimoto Appelbaum syndrome? Sounds legit). It does, however, explain why something like hypnosis can block it.

What I don't understand is that if cantus users did go through evolution/natural selection due to their incredibly competitive environment, then why does such self destructive syndrome like this still exist as a strong possibility in all cantus users to the extent that they require such a strict society to control it?

Nevertheless, that was a hugely distressing episode. I thought the fate Shun read out load and was foreshadowed was something we were hearing through the biased lens of the society they live in but it turns out that cruel society has a point. I mean if this is really the result then what else can they do? I figured that the reason Shun behaved in that detached way he did was because he was aware of his own mortality, but I didn't stop to think that the threat might actually be internal. In that respect, the threat the show kept on radiating from the society they live in was one incredibly well played red herring.

Btw, I recognised Shigeyasu Yamauchi's distinctive style in less than ten seconds.
I didn't think his style worked in episode 5 but it was much better in this one.